How to get him back
by shae d elle
Summary: After abandoning them, Ryder and Lennox didn't expect much from their father. But when one of their lives is put in danger, they will have to put their trust in a man that had broken it so many times.
1. Chapter 1

I was sitting at our kitchen table listening to Aunt Mel talk to Joe over the phone. It was any ole average Tuesday morning with the exception that Joe's brother had won tickets for the Lakers game and Joe was taking a two day vacation to go to LA.

"Right Joe… Yeah well just because you won two tickets to see the Lakers doesn't mean you can just leave us here to starve… There are no waffles in the oven… I did look… Oh right that oven… Hey I've got to go." Aunt Mel threw the phone onto the counter like it was on fire, and then proceeded to pull out a heaping plate of waffles from the oven.

"Ooh, Joe made waffles!" I exclaimed.

"Sure Lennox, he made waffles, but he didn't leave any syrup so how great can they really be?"

My phone beeped. "Oh I got a text from Joe. 'Enjoy the waffles. The syrup is by the microwave,'" I read aloud to my clearly disgruntle aunt. She would hate to admit this, but she had become very dependent on Joe over the past year or so and was a bit off without the daily morning argument.

Mel looked over at the microwave disgusted. "Well then. You know what, I have to get in to work. I don't have time for any fancy-schmancy gourmet waffles."

My phone beeped again. "Tell Mel to just eat the damn waffles." I read aloud giggling.

"Fine, but I'm taking them to-go." Mel stacked a couple of waffles in a Tupperware bin. "But you tell Joe that we can survive without him for two days." She poured a good helping of syrup on her waffles, as I put a couple of waffles on my own plate. "Hey, be frugal. We are going to need some of those for tomorrow morning."

I rolled my eyes at her and then sat down at the table. "Hey, I've actually really got to get to work. You and Ryder are getting a ride to school, right?" I nodded yes swallowing my first bite of waffely goodness, and Mel continued. "Good. I will see you two tonight. Have fun at school today." Mel exited the door before she could hear my sarcastic comment about school and fun being in the same sentence.

"Ryder! If you don't get your butt down here, you're not getting any waffles." I screamed.

He skidded down the stairs looking particularly tired. His hair was a mess and his shirt was on inside out. "Morning." He barely mumbled out.

"What's going on with you?"

"I was on the phone all night with Holly. She…" Although I'm sure Ryder's story would be very entertaining as any psychotic, girlfriend bitch story is, but I really didn't mind the distraction of the front door opening. "Who's that?" Ryder asked helping himself to some waffles.

"Aunt Mel probably just forgot something. Aunt Mel?" I hollered through the door leading from the kitchen to the living room. She didn't answer back. I figured she didn't want to explain whatever she forgot to us, but it couldn't have hurt her to just say that she had re-entered the house. I decided to just forget about the inconsiderate gesture as I could use it later to counter any lectures about coming in late or forgetting to tell her where I was going.

"Aunt Mel?" Ryder called out this time with no answer.

Now it was getting strange. Ryder had called out. She would have answered Ryder even if she didn't want to get into a big conversation. I realize whenever she enters in the room we grab a lot of her attention, but she didn't have to give us the cold shoulder. I looked up at Ryder as he began crossing the room towards the door. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to say hi." Well duh. Of course, that's what he was going to do. I bit my lip from saying anything more, but there was something off about the entire situation.

"Who the hell are you? Get out of our house! Hey, what are you doing? Ow!"

Definitely something off about what Ryder just screamed out. "Ryder!"

"Lennox! Run! Hey, leave her alo…" I heard someone hit the ground. For a second, I hoped that Ryder had knocked out whoever was in our house. But then I remembered he was a beanpole with no muscles and just stuck to hoping that he was okay.

Either way I didn't have much time to worry about his welfare as a man had charged through the swinging door. He glared at me and I noticed that my body had flung itself towards the kitchen and grabbed one of Joe's butcher knives. I held it out towards the man. He scoffed. "Oh put that down, you child." He began to slowly walk towards me. I back up until I was pressed against the counter.

"Leave me alone." My voice was shaking, not exactly giving off the fierce, don't-touch-me-or-I'll-kill-you tone I was hoping for. In the other room, I heard Ryder scream in pain. My stomach dropped when I heard his shriek. Instantly I knew that these guys meant serious business. In my moment of shock though, I had allowed my knife to droop down and the guy had grabbed it from my hand.

Two other men crashed through the door, carrying a limp Ryder between them. "Leave him alone!" I cried out seeing my brother fading in and out of consciousness. I struggled against my captor, obviously giving a good fight as he lost grip for a split second. I basically was able to twirl away from him before he reached out to grab me again. As his right hand grabbed my waist, the knife in his left slid into my side. He pulled it out as I fell to the ground.

I heard the swinging door open. I figured it was the leader who entered because he was barking orders and he had a really loud voice. "A car is pulling up to the house. What the hell is going on in here? No, no, no forget the girl. We don't have time for one that's already hurt. We've got the boy. He's good enough." When I heard they were leaving me alone, the tension in my body released. I really didn't want to get up. My side was on fire and my fingers were groping at the hole in my side. The blood was making them sticky. I didn't want to have to keep touching the wound, but I felt like I needed to. In all of the movies, people who are shot or stabbed have to keep pressure on their wound. But all I really wanted to do at the moment was just fall asleep.

I began to relax even more when I realized they were leaving. The sound of the door slamming the wall when they through it open. The sound of footsteps hurrying out of the house. Something was nagging at the back of my mind though. Something was wrong. I couldn't let them leave. I couldn't remember why though.

I heard his voice. "Lennox. Please don't be dead. Lennox, please. Please don't die. Lennox. Help me." It was soft. Quiet. Distant. But it ignited my adrenaline as pushed myself up, determined to get to my brother. My eyelids were heavy though. I couldn't open them. By the time I had pried them open there was no one in the kitchen. "Ryder…" My voice cracked. Then there was darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

Mel held her nieces hand in her; stroking it softly and waiting for Lennox to wake up. She had been asleep since surgery. The doctors claimed she would wake soon, but as the seconds ticked by, Mel grew more impatient. She began pacing the room, but after a few laps, she had to stop. She wanted to cry. She didn't want Lennox to see her worried. She pressed her hand against her eyes to stop any tears. The tactic would have worked too, if Stephanie hadn't walked in.

"Mel?" Stephanie stood in the doorway holding the two cups of coffee she had offered to get an hour ago.

"Where have you been?" Mel asked exasperated. Stephanie flinched as if the comment had hit her. "I'm sorry." Mel apologized. She didn't have the right to yell at Stephanie. Stephanie was the one who found Lennox on the floor in a puddle of her own blood. Stephanie was the one who called the ambulance. Stephanie was the one who rode with Lennox to the hospital. Stephanie was just trying to help. "Thank you." Mel took one of the coffees from Stephanie.

"Has she woken up yet?" Almost on queue, Lennox's eyes peeked open.

"Aunt Mel? Where am I?" Lennox's voice cracked as she tried to sit up in bed, wincing when she moved around the stitches in her side.

"Shhh, sweet heart. Don't move. You're in the hospital. You were hurt." Mel soothed Lennox. The injured teenager settled herself back into the pillows as Mel continued to explain the entire situation. "Do you remember what happened before Stephanie got there?"

Lennox closed her eyes thinking about the morning. Her head buzzed from the pain medication. "Ryder? Where's Ryder?" She suddenly sat up in a panic.

"We don't know. The police are searching for him, but he wasn't anywhere in the house."

"They took him."

"Who took him?"

Lennox looked at her aunt with tears in here eyes. She knew who the men had been. She recognized their faces. They were faces she was quite certain she would never see again. They were faces that definitely didn't like any members of the Scanlon family.

"I'm sorry, sir. Only family is allowed in the room. No reporters." Lennox and Mel looked out the door, and Mel stood up angrily. Lennox realized that reporters must have been stalking around the hospital trying to get a word in with the hurt daughter of Louis Scanlon who had been on the run for over a year and a half now.

"I am family. Close enough anyways. Will you just let me through? I'm not a damned reporter." Joe burst into the room followed by a very annoyed nurse.

"Lennox." He sighed as he crossed the room to sit by her bed.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," the nurse apologized.

"No, no. He's telling the truth. I sadly know him." Mel explained, but the nurse still seemed slightly confused. "He's my nanny." Mel turned to hear whatever smart alec response Joe was going to make about being their nanny, but it seemed like Joe didn't even hear. He was just staring down at Lennox. If he hadn't fidgeted when Lennox grabbed his hand, he could have been in a trance and no one would have even noticed.

"Joe, I'm going to be fine," Lennox reassured. The nurse took that as a queue that she could leave, and Stephanie closed the door behind her.

Joe sank down into the chair next to Lennox's bed. His eyes weren't blinking, and his hand was limp in Lennox's. "Come on, Longo. Get a grip." Mel punched him in the shoulder. He shook himself out of his little daydream, and gripped Lennox's hand tighter.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm going to be fine. When Mr. Santino came into the kitchen, I got scared and grabbed a knife. But there was a struggle and I accidently got stabbed." Lennox rambled out her story.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. Mr. Santino? Greg Santino who I used to work with?" Lennox nodded her head yes. "Lennox, why was Greg Santino at the house?"

"I don't know. There were at least four or five men who had all worked for my dad there. They just walked right into the house and then… I don't know. I guess I ended up here."

"Louis' ex-employees were the ones who did this to you?" Mel was genuinely shocked. "Why would they go after a couple of kids?"

"Probably because they couldn't go after Louis. But you saw them, right?" Lennox shook her head yes to Joe's question. "I'll bet Ryder saw them too then. I'll grab him, we'll go to the Police station and get those sons-of-bitches arrested."

Lennox whimpered and Mel stared at him. "Joe…?"

Joe began bustling around the room. Going through the plan aloud, more for himself than for anyone else in the room. "Yeah, that actually sounds like a good plan. You just rest up, Lennox. You feel better. We'll go to the police station, and then I'll go home and make you the best dinner you have ever eaten. Everything will be better. Alright. Where is Ryder anyways?"

"Joe." Mel's voice was soft and hurt. Joe stopped pacing.

"What Mel? Where's Ryder?"

"The police are looking for him, but no one has seen him since this morning."

"What are you talking about?" Joe's voice was cold.

"They took him. Those men took him," Lennox started to cry out. "He was trying to get away, to help me. But they were so much stronger than him. And I couldn't move. I couldn't help him. I'm so sorry." Mel sat next to Lennox on the bed, wrapping her arms around her scared niece, while Joe transverted back to the zombie in a trance man.

Everyone froze just like that for two moments. "Joe." Stephanie was standing by his side pulling on his sleeve with a very concerned grimace crossing her face. "Can I speak with you outside?"

"Sure," Joe mumbled as he let himself get dragged out of the room.

"You need to look at this." Stephanie held up her phone as a video began to play.

A dark room with a grainy face appeared. "Louis Scanlon. The entire world has been searching for you for a year and a half. You screwed us all over and then left every single person in your company with nothing. We were kicked out of our homes, forced to give up most of our possessions. No one wants to hire someone who worked for a company that's name leaves a bad taste in your mouth. We have been rotting here in the States, while you get away with everything where you are. What's fair about that? You deserve to spend the rest of your life in jail. You need to come home right now, and turn yourself over. Because if you don't, we are going to kill your son." The video flipped over to Ryder. He was tied to a chair. His face was bloody and bruised. His head was flopped down. A man came forward and punched him in the face. Ryder cried out in pain. The man punched him again. Ryder cried out again. Five times. Until blood dripped out of the teenagers mouth, and he was barely conscious. Then the video flipped back to the first man. "You have a week. Turn yourself in, or we'll kill your son." The video ended.

Joe fell back against the wall and slid down so that he was on the ground. He clutched his head and then all of a sudden yelled out in anger. The bellow rattled down the hallway. Stephanie took a step back. But Joe's anguish didn't stop there. He stoop up again in a hurry. Turned towards Stephanie. "I need to… go out. Don't show Burke that video. Whatever you do, make sure she does not see that video. Okay, Stephanie?"

Stephanie shook her head yes. "She's going to see it eventually."

"I just need an hour. Just give me an hour. Don't let her see the video." Joe had run down the hallway and had almost disappeared.

"Don't show me what video?" Mel stood at the door. She had old tears still on her cheeks. Stephanie shook her head in despair, but Mel took the phone out of her hands and pressed play.


	3. Chapter 3

When I was seven years old, my dad took Lennox and me to the zoo. I was fascinated with Tamarin monkeys, and I had been bugging my dad for weeks to take me to the zoo to see the tiny monkeys with manes like a lion. He finally gave in and took a couple of hours off of work so that we could visit the local zoo. I had been to the zoo a couple of times previously with my class, but not enough to really know my way around. When Lennox had to pee, my dad walked her over to the restrooms. Of course, I could see the monkey house from where I was standing, so my father's very distinct and unmistakable words of "Ryder, don't move" were in the far reaches of my mind at this point. I decided that I could make it there and back again without my dad even knowing I was away, but the monkey house was across from a large pond with a statue of a naked lady squirting water in a regal fashion and ducks floating around in it. I figured it wouldn't be that treacherous of a journey. But as soon as I had made it halfway around the pond, a group of school kids swept by and I got pulled into their large caravan. When I got out of the stream of school kids, the scene had completely changed. There were different animal cages surrounding me, different people, different food vendors. I froze in the middle of the chaos of the zoo, but nothing else did. The world moved around my frozen, six-year old self and I just stood there lost.

I was starting to feel the same emotions as I had felt that day. Except for now, I wasn't hoping my dad was going to find me. He had caused this entire mess, even if he wasn't directly involved. I recognized the men from the moment I saw them standing in my living room. I had seen them at the company picnics and Christmas dinners. They had worked for my dad before he… you know, ruined their lives.

So now I was sitting tied to a chair with a swollen face and blood drying on my shirt waiting for my dad to answer their very public video of me getting beaten.

A day ago I would have been proud of my dad for his perseverance. He didn't give into threats. He made that abundantly clear when he ran his company and when he ran his family. He used to tell me that Scanlon's were not people to be toyed with. They were strong. They were fearless. All he turned out to be though was a coward though.

He wasn't coming for me.

I was sure of it.

He didn't find me at the zoo. Lennox found me at the zoo.

And Lennox was going to find me here.


End file.
